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Italy’s upstart Five Star Movement emerged the comfortable winner in the country’s general election on Sunday, with preliminary exit polls suggesting the populist party winning by 10 points over their nearest rivals.

Exit polls indicated that Five Star had won between 29-32 per cent of the vote – falling well short of the 40 per cent that they would need for an outright majority.

Silvio Berlusconi, the 81-year-old former prime minister, looked to have had a disappointing night after his Forza Italia party was predicted to have come up equal with the anti-immigration League party, with both on 13-16 per cent of the vote.

If confirmed, the numbers would mean that the Right-wing coalition headed by Mr Berlusconi also falls short of a governing majority.

Italy's populist Five Star Movement (M5S) party leader Luigi Di Maio arrives to vote on March 4, 2018 at a polling station in Naples.Credit:
AFP

The governing Democratic Party, headed by former prime minister Matteo Renzi, performed poorly, with exit polls suggesting it won as little as 20.5 per cent of the vote – a potentially disastrous result for Italy’s mainstream centre-Left party.

As the largest party, Five Star is likely to demand the chance to try to form a government.

However, the party, founded by stand-up comedian Beppe Grillo, has repeatedly ruled out entering a coalition with other parties.

The exit poll suggested that Italy is in for a protracted period of uncertainty and days or even weeks of tortuous horse-trading between the parties. The poll had a margin of error of three per cent.

The numbers were provided by RAI, Italy’s state television network, with experts cautioning that exit polls in Italian elections have been unreliable in the past.

Final, reliable results will not be known until early on Monday.

Earlier yesterday a bitter and divisive campaign ended on a comical note when a topless woman from the campaign group Femen jumped onto a table as Mr Berlusconi was casting his vote in a polling booth in Milan.

The young woman had the words “Berlusconi, you’re past your sell-by date,” written across her chest.

As she was pulled down from the table and carried off by police officers, she may have reminded Mr Berlusconi of old times.

The 81-year-old was forced out of office seven years ago amid an economic crisis and alleged dalliances with barely-clothed young women at so-called “bunga bunga” parties.